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Paying Agent Services for M&A
and Litigation Settlements

Expert support for multi-party payment distribution. Distributing funds to hundreds of payees should not consume your team time or expose you to risk. We handle verification, secure fund holding, and payment execution for M&A, class actions, and complex transactions.

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£18bn+

Processed

We have processed over £18 billion in payments, supporting law firms with M&A deals involving hundreds of shareholders, litigation settlements with thousands of claimants, and cross-border distributions.

40+

Top 100 Firms

Trusted by 40 of the UK's top 100 law firms for complex paying agent transactions.

86+

Global Paying Capability

Send funds to payees internationally in 86+ jurisdictions with transparent multi-currency support.

Paying agent explained

What does a paying agent do?

A paying agent acts as an intermediary to distribute funds to multiple payees on behalf of a law firm or financial institution. This is common in:

  • M&A transactions - Distributing purchase consideration to hundreds of shareholders across multiple jurisdictions
  • Class action settlements - Paying thousands of claimants with verified identity and bank details
  • Insurance payouts - Managing complex multi-party distributions with international payees

Shieldpay's Paying Agent service is built for large-scale, complex distributions where manual processes create fraud risk, compliance challenges, and non-billable work for fee earners.

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Paying Agent Service

The paying agent challenge

Law firms acting as paying agents for M&A or litigation settlements face significant operational challenges:

  • Complex verification for every payee (KYC, bank details, sanctions screening)
  • Fraud risk from manual bank detail collection (impersonation scams, phishing)
  • Time-consuming reconciliation across multiple accounts and payment rails
  • FX complexity for international payees
  • Regulatory compliance across jurisdictions (AML, data protection, payment regulations)
  • Non-billable work consuming hundreds of hours of fee earner time

Every additional payee multiplies the risk, cost, and admin work. Our paying agent service addresses these challenges with expert-led support through the entire payment process - from verification to final disbursement.

Why choose Shieldpay?

Scalable for Complexity

From 50 shareholders to thousands of claimants, we handle high-volume, multi-party distributions without manual strain. We have managed transactions with 100,000+ verified payees, providing the infrastructure and support to execute at scale.

Full Compliance & Risk Mitigation

We conduct verification checks, sanctions screening, and bank account validation for every payee. Confirmation of Payee (CoP) checks prevent misdirected payments and fraud. Full audit trails support regulatory reporting and dispute resolution.

Note: Law firms retain responsibility for AML compliance. We provide the verification infrastructure.

Global Payment Capability

We support domestic and international payment rails (Faster Payments, CHAPS, SEPA, SWIFT) with integrated foreign exchange services at competitive rates. Multi-currency support and cross-border expertise for complex, multi-jurisdiction transactions.

Expert-Led Service

Dedicated payment specialists work with you to structure payment flows, manage verification workflows, and execute payments on your instruction. You maintain control - we handle the complexity.

Ready to simplify your next distribution? Talk to our team to see how Shieldpay works for your transaction.

Speak to a payments expert

Paying agent to suit your transactional needs

Recent insurance industry transaction with payments facilitated by Shieldpay’s Paying Agent application, ensuring secure proceeds for all parties involved:

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UK Top 20 Law Firm

The law firm was grappling with a complex and manual process of shareholder notifications, KYC and accurate capturing of bank details for 418 sellers, to pass on to the paying agent to initiate the high value transactions. The firm recognised that the time spent by fee earners on these non-billable hours was costly and inefficient.

Learn more
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Ready to speak to a payments expert?

Get in touch to find out how Shieldpay can support your firm's payments on what you’re working on today.
Save time, reduce risk, and provide enhanced experiences to your customers with our independent paying agent services.
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FAQ

FAQ: Paying Agent Services

Common questions about Shieldpay's Paying Agent service - from how it works to AML responsibility and setup timelines.

A paying agent service manages the distribution of funds to multiple payees on behalf of a law firm or financial institution. Shieldpay's Paying Agent service handles verification (KYC, sanctions screening), secure fund holding in FCA-regulated accounts, and payment execution for M&A shareholder distributions, class action settlements, and other multi-party transactions.
Use a paying agent when distributing funds to 50+ payees, especially across multiple jurisdictions. Common scenarios include M&A shareholder payouts, litigation settlements with multiple claimants, insurance industry payouts, and any transaction where manual verification and payment processes create risk or consume significant time.
Shieldpay combines technology automation (API integration, automated verification) with expert-led service. We offer faster setup, lower cost, enhanced fraud protection (Confirmation of Payee checks), and full transparency via real-time dashboards. We have processed over £18bn and managed transactions with 100,000+ verified payees.
The law firm retains responsibility for AML compliance. Shieldpay provides the verification infrastructure and supporting documentation to help you meet your obligations, but AML responsibility remains with the instructing law firm.
Setup time depends on transaction complexity and number of payees. Typical M&A shareholder distributions can be set up in 1–2 weeks. Our team works with you to structure the payment flow, establish verification requirements, and prepare for payment execution.

Still have questions? Speak with one of our paying agent specialists — we're happy to walk you through how it works for your transaction.

Speak to a payments expert